Art/into/Pop: The Brian Eno Diaries: Eno’s Underrated Masterpiece, Before and After Science

Here’s another underrated classic from the vast and diverse catalogue of Brian Eno. Before and After Science (1977 Polydor Records) was his 5th studio album, and it marks a point of transition in his career from pop to ambience. In fact, this may be the other example of an Eno ambient pop album, and like his more recent Another Day on Earth (2005 Hannibal), it was given lukewarm reviews by the pitchfork fashionistas. (See previous post on Eno’s more recent album here; it will explain the previous comment...)

Before and After Science took 2 years to record, and there were over 100 tracks written for the album with only 10 actually making the cut. There were many guest artists such as Jaki Liebezeit of Can, Robert Wyatt of Soft Machine, Robert Fripp of King Crimson, Paul Rudolph of Hawkwind, and the one and only Phil Collins. Not only is the album the centerpiece of a pivotal transition in Eno’s work, the album’s order of songs enacts that very transformation - with the first tracks channeling a kind of frantic, new wave pop sensibility while latter songs evaporate into a realm of ethereal ambience. Listen to the first two tracks of the album; the songs are titled “No One Receiving” and “Backwater” respectively.

As the album continues, the songs begin to slow their pace; it maintains its pop approach, however, with a song like the B-side opener, “Here He Comes”:

By the latter half of side B, one feels like he or she has ventured into a realm unknown, like another album was secretly put in its place when no one was looking. It creeps up on you, however, like it escaped one’s attention at first. We find ourselves wondering, “wait, how did I get here?” (And I’m not trying to quote Eno’s friend and collaborator here, David Byrne...) It’s like the album drifts off from water into mist, and I use the water metaphor here because Eno described the album as a kind of sonic exploration of the water element. (think of some of the titles of tracks, “Backwater” and “By this River”...). Here are three of the last four tracks of the album, “Julie With...”, “By this River”, and “Spider and I”, respectively:

Wow, what a contrast from the first side of the album! I hold this to be one of Eno’s great, but lesser known, masterpieces. The packaging is really wonderful as well. The original pressing came with four art print inserts by the artist, Peter Schmidt. Unfortunately, my copy of the Vinyl does not have the original inserts; I imagine I would have paid much much more for the album if it did... For fans of both Eno’s pop music and his more ambient experiments, this album is a great addition to the collection. Like the recently posted Eno release, Another Day on Earth, the album marries Eno’s distinct creative worlds well to achieve what I think to be some of his greatest music. Enjoy!